How to write emails Symbols: = normal, standard, is always possible. = Particularly friendly, respectively informal = Particularly formal: rather used in business letters or faxes. Salutation Dear Janet Hi Janet Dear All This is still normal, and nice. Use it. for a friend some people use this: it's a bit short, we think "Hello Janet" is not really English. British people sometimes use a comma: Dear Janet, Janet, Americans use a comma or a colon (:). So do anything you want. is nice, if you're writing to several people together. And one more possibility: nothing. No "Dear...", no name. Just start the message. It's not very friendly, though. Maybe do this for simple answers to simple questions. Thank you... Thanks for......the information...your comments...your work on the...project...the report Letters used to begin: Thank you for your letter of 12 June... This was a way of saying: "We have received your letter". You don't need to do this with emails, but it's still nice to begin by thanking for something, if you can. But "Thanks for your email" is a bit of a waste of time. You received some news from a friend... Nice to hear from you again. Good to hear from you. Don't say this if you met the person yesterday! We already know each other... We met at the... conference in March last year. We spoke when you visited us in... Say this only if you need a reminder (rappel). I have to introduce myself... I work in the... department at (company) I'm working on the... project. I'm responsible for... In English, say what you do, not what you are. (Not: "I am assistant technical manager...".) "responsible for" = "responsable de" How to write an email (students) - 1 -
I have a question: Could you tell me... Could you let me know... Write a phrase like this at the beginning of your first question. Problem: this makes the grammar more difficult. If you write something before the question word (how, what, when, who etc.), you don't use a question word order after the question word. So: I'm writing to ask... Could you tell me when you will arrive... Not: "...when will you arrive" I'd like to know what the part costs. Not: "...what does the part cost" The grammar of questions in English is not easy. If you are not sure, here is an easy way to ask for information: Could you tell me: the length of the part... the price of... the time of the meeting your address in... etc. or "I'd like to know:", "I need to know:", "Could you let me know:" etc. I have to give you the following information: Just give the information! In an email, don't say anything like "I have the following to report" or "Here is the information which you asked for". If you want, you can start with: FYI = "for your information". Don't write this if you are answering a question. If you have good or bad news: Good news I'm pleased to say that we... I'm happy to say that we... Good news! We have... In a formal communication, for example to clients, you could say: I am pleased to be able to inform you that we have... Bad news I'm afraid (that) the.. I'm sorry to say (that) the... Say "I'm afraid" before anything that the person whom you are writing to doesn't want to hear. If the news is very, very bad, here is a formal way of giving it: I am sorry to have to inform you that we are forced to terminate your employment. Please do what follows: For simple, routine things, just say: Please Please send your expense (coûts) sheets to Janet in the Munich office. But "please" is no good if you want more. The more you want, the longer the phrase (expression) you need: Could you... Could you send me a copy of the contract? How to write an email (students) - 2 -
Could you possibly... Could you possibly check the figures again? Do you think you could... I wonder if you could... I would be grateful if you could... Do you think you could finish the report by Friday? I would like (I'd like)... Easy. "Could" is always O.K.: Could I... (I want to do something) Could you... Americans use "May I" more than "Could I": May I... Be careful! "J'aimerais" is not "I like", but "I'd like": If it's all right with you, I'd like to go... (Could you do something?) May I take a day off Friday? The answer is: Yes, no problem. That's fine. No problem. Sure, go ahead. Of course you can... If you're the boss: You have my authorisation to... The answer is: this is not possible. Don't write "no"! Just say the problem: The problem is, we... Unfortunately, at the moment... I'm afraid (that)... If it's not already clear that you are saying "no", you can add something like: So I'm afraid it's not possible...at the moment... So I have to say you can't..., I'm afraid. Complaints Maybe you want a fight with the person you are writing to. If not, start like this: I'm afraid (that)... Unfortunately... Then don't be too direct: sound a bit uncertain: There seems to be a problem with the... There may be a misunderstanding about... Suggest a solution if you can: How to write an email (students) - 3 - not: "I'm afraid, but..." Could you recheck the figures? Could you send us a replacement by courier? Can we agree on a target of a 20% improvement by the end of the month?
If you send a copy of the email to the person's boss, it's polite to say so: I'm sending a copy of this message to... for information. Apology (excuse) Vocabulary first: Now the rules: 1. Apologise immediately I'm sorry that we... S'excuser: to apologise (GB) or to apologize (USA) excuse: an apology Be careful: apologise: s'excuser; apologies: excuses 1. Apologise immediately 2. Give a reason (lie, if it helps) 3. Suggest action 4. Apologise again. Sorry about the... I must apologise for... Please accept our apologies for... 2. Give a reason This was unavoidably due to... There was a hold-up in our... department "hold-up" = retard Our suppliers let us down 3. Suggest action I'm sending you the new figures 4. Apologise again Sorry again I'm sorry about all the trouble you've had. Isn't that nice? You can reach me... You can reach me... or "You can get in touch with me..."... on my mobile on +49 89 123...... on my pager... by calling my secretary on...... at home on... You can fax me on... It may be better to phone. I'm in the office from... to... This is not a "natel". It's a "mobile phone" or "my mobile". Some people (in America) also say "cell phone" or "cellular phone". End of the email It's OK to end an email with: (Nothing, just your name) If you have a good reason, you can end with one of these phrases. They are all common in letters and faxes: Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need any more information. How to write an email (students) - 4 -
I hope this information will be helpful. Looking forward to hearing from you. Grammar: you must use "...forward to -ing", not "forward to hear" etc. Like this: Finally, either nothing or: Thanks See you Best regards Best wishes Bye Looking forward to meeting you. Looking forward to seeing you next week. Looking forward to talking to you at the conference. (more common in Britain) Love, for close personal friends, not just lovers! Signature It's usual in English-speaking countries to sign emails with just your first name. This doesn't mean "I want to be your friend". It just means "We are working together". If you need to give details of your job title, department, etc., put them after your name. Thanks for your help. Janet Ms. Janet Smith Motivation Manager Dept JFDI Easy, huh? How to write an email (students) - 5 -